Saving You
by Semjaza
Summary: A Priestess's lament, observing with detachment a life saved, a life taken. My attempt at giving a new dimension to the draconians; written quite a while ago. Please R R.


Disclaimer: I don't own Dragonlance, or anything in relation to it.  
  
This has been re-written and revised. Please review, and I've tried to fix the tenses again, although with little success. Beta readers would be welcome:)  
  
POV is a Priestess of Paladine.  
  
Saving You  
  
When I first saw you, our eyes met only for a fleeting glimpse. You were not supposed to be here, and you knew it, too. But you were also one of those "refugees," of sorts, caught in a war that you should have had nothing to do with, a war that had birthed you in an unholy form. You couldn't get out, you'd never had the chance to try. I felt for you, was being sympathetic from my perch on the temple steps. You couldn't leave this mess.  
  
I put my thoughts aside for a moment, I had duties to attend to, and besides, I wasn't sure if you were really there at all. You could be just a figment of my mind, an imagined horror to contrast with all of the strife that reality had dumped on the world. I dusted off my no-longer pristine robes, dirty with the fingerprints of children and the sorrows of war, helped some nameless, faceless old woman up the stairs and into the white pillared temple, and then...  
  
You were still there, at the edge of the grounds. The once manicured temple lawns now grew high, and rough, as no one had the time to care for them. Still, it remained sacred ground, a holy barricade, and therefore death to you. Though I know now that fear of painful death was not what stopped you.   
  
I couldn't help but stare into your eyes. They revealed pain, sullen anger, and... concern? A chilling kind of helplessness? I'd never in all my days of service seen that look before, a mix of longing for death and release, with a quiet determination to carry out your duty. Whatever that was...  
  
Clouds were darkening on the horizon. Rain was beginning to spatter on you, on me, on the little, fair-haired child sleeping at your feet.  
  
I jumped when I saw her. Small, with a long shock of silvery gold hair, she was hurt. Bruised and battered on the outside, on the inside she was dying, slowly drowning in her own blood. The crimson liquid flecked on her lips, testimony to her suffering. The aura of pain around her matched yours, as though she too might soon be lost to this world. You knew this. The fact that you carried her as far as you did still astounds me. I feel guilty at wondering why you brought her with you, with your armor, your weapons, your supplies that were far too few for you both.  
  
She stirred and you gently scooped her up in your arms with the practiced ease of a parent. Thought her parent you could not be. Her hair fell back, revealing pointed ears. An elf. An elven child. You were a marvel. You saved her.  
  
You sought out my gaze again, conveying a silent message. I walked forward slowly, cautiously, as if approaching a cornered wild animal. Because that is how I saw you, some beast with a baby in his arms. I stepped closer, and you towered above me. I've never considered myself a woman of small stature. Had the sun been out, my shadow would've lost itself in your presence. You were a creature bred only for the kill, and I was frightened, until I looked closer.  
  
Your eyes were your humanity, your redeeming quality. They were a window to your soul. Most would have said that you, being a monster, were soulless, but I thought that it was something we all had, however corrupt. I saw your soul as engulfed in darkness, lost in it. You knew this. You didn't deny it. You were hurting and you couldn't help this. It wasn't your fault, although you'd been taught differently. It's the inside that counts, and you had something inside of you that few had in those days. You saved her.  
  
You told me that the child needed help. You knew whose lands you were in. You wouldn't get out but that was no matter. Rotting in the Abyss is almost welcome after this war. It's hell, to you, to me, to the little girl fearlessly laying her head on the bronze scales of your shoulder.  
  
You ask if I'd take the girl. I said yes, what else could I say? Who was I to refuse a child? I held out my arms and you relinquished the little one, carefully handing her over as though she might shatter at any moment. I saw the wound on your side, the one that had cut through your clothing and armour and had been slowly killing you. Did you want it to?  
  
You looked at me, at the child you had carried for miles and then you took my hand. You gave me the something in your soul, and I would carry it in me always. I smiled and took the girl across the muddy, weed-strewn lawns to the temple. I looked back to see you draw your sword. Freedom often comes at such a horrible price. This was your chance to escape.  
  
Lightning flickered in the distance and you found my gaze. I would've sworn that you smiled. Your hope was with me now, for me to treasure. I turned the child's face away but didn't try and stop your actions. I couldn't save you and I didn't want to. You were saving yourself. It was better this way. I watched you lift the blade, heard the sickening sound of steel piercing scales and flesh and bone. You drove the sword into yourself and died in the cold rain.   
  
I wasn't sorry. I turned away as your body became lightning on earth. I didn't weep for you.  
  
Everyday, someone questions me about the girl. I've taken to calling her Hope, born out of the ashes, rising above them. She asks about you always. What am I to tell her? She is a sweet child, polite and intelligent, and much older in years than I. The people of the temple smile at me and admire me for rescuing her. But I didn't save her. You did.  
  
***  
  
Well, that was happy, ne? Anywho, I'd appreciate reviews, comments, criticism, ANYTHING! If you'd like to archive this (though I can't imagine why), you can, but I'd like your site's URL.  
  
Please review. Oh, and if you're good at editing tenses, please beta-read for me. My email is crimson_twilight@goddess.com  
  
~Semjaza~ Aug. 1/02, Dec. 15/02, Jun. 22/03 


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